Nenshi’s endorsements for council colleagues raise hackles of competitors

Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald09.22.2013

Mayor Naheed Nenshi talks to the media after filing his nomination papers to run for re-election on Monday. His seal of approval for his council colleagues as they run for re-election could be a boost for some campaigns, but it’s got non-incumbent candidates on the offensive.Leah Hennel

Mayor Naheed Nenshi files his nomination papers at City Hall to run for re-election in the Oct. 21 vote.Leah Hennel

Mayor Naheed Nenshi goes through the nomination process at City Hall to run for re-election in the Oct. 21 vote.Leah Hennel

After spending months denouncing the idea of a conservative slate out to derail his agenda, Mayor Naheed Nenshi now is wrapping all 12 incumbent candidates in his trademark purple hue.

In rare step for a mayor, Nenshi has tacitly endorsed every alderman seeking re-election, by offering each a quote of support and letting them use his photograph in their brochure.

Nenshi finds he can get along with the current crop, from conservative Peter Demong to liberal Druh Farrell, and is wary of less collegiality among their potential replacements.

With an 83-per-cent approval rating to council’s 63, the next four weeks will determine if Nenshi’s praise helps bump his colleagues to victory.

"If people like the work that this council has done, then existing city councillors should take credit," Nenshi told reporters Monday. "If they don’t like it, if they want a change, then I would suggest they push their challengers to figure out what that change looks like and if they agree with that."

It’s typically hard to defeat a sitting alderman, having been done legitimately only four times in the past four elections. It’s unclear how much harder it would be for challengers to defeat them and the popular mayor by proxy.

Several lashed out at the mayor for not respecting the tradition of mayoral neutrality.

"Do you ever recall Dave Bronconnier helping the incumbents out, or the mayors before him?" said Ward 7 candidate Kevin Taylor, who finished second to Druh Farrell in 2010.

"It’s his voice. He’s allowed to. But I don’t think he should be involved in that. I’d just let the voters decide."

Taylor has downplayed his having attended campaign readiness sessions with the conservative Manning Centre, and the praise he got in a secretly videotaped speech by anti-Nenshi home builder Cal Wenzel. Wenzel spoke of trying to elect "business friendly" aldermen, and Nenshi has worried publicly this "slate" of candidates will be dedicated to blocking his agenda and making council dysfunctional.

Taylor said he would pose no such roadblock. "Absolutely, I see myself working with the mayor and his vision for Calgary."

"It’s very tricky to suggest you’re not trying to get a slate in if you’re not willing to endorse people outside of the current council," he said.

With Dale Hodges and Gord Lowe not running for re-election, council is guaranteed two new faces after the Oct. 21 vote. Every incumbent has at least one challenger.

Nenshi pushed back against the suggestion he was being hypocritical with his endorsements.

"The thing that I’m concerned about is a slate of people who will decide how to vote prior to the vote happening," Nenshi said. "That’s what we had before 2010."

Farrell, meanwhile, supports Nenshi’s move. "We work well together, it’s an effective council and we share a similar vision."

Ald. Richard Pootmans said he "would love to have the mayor’s endorsement," but cautioned that endorsing ward candidates is as risky a move for the mayor as it would be for any community association.

"You have to work with whomever gets elected," Pootmans said Monday after registering as a candidate. "In certain positions, you might feel obliged to stay neutral."

Joe Connelly, seeking to win back the seat he held before Pootmans, used the mayoral endorsement to assert his own independence.

"I don’t work for the mayor, for developers. for the bureaucrats. I will take my direction from my constituents and no one else," said Connelly, who finished fourth against Nenshi in the 2010 mayoral race.

Many incumbents say they won’t use the mayor’s name or face in their campaign literature.

Marc Henry, a pollster who served as former mayor Bronconnier’s chief of staff, couldn’t recall such explicit endorsements by a Calgary mayor who was running again.

"It’s up to voters to decide whether it’s appropriate or not. It’s unusual," said Henry, president of ThinkHQ Public Affairs.

He said turnout may play a bigger role than Nenshi’s kudos, since many expect victory will depend on who can get supporters to the polling stations.

Henry doubts the endorsements would sow bitter feelings if any challengers win despite the mayor’s actions.

"They many not have the best working relationship for the first little while, but that works itself out," Henry said.

As for the open races in Wards 1 and 2, Nenshi said he’s unsure if he’ll lend support there. He did pose for a photo at City Hall on Monday with Shawn Ripley and Terry Wong, two Ward 2 candidates with experience working for the city.

Joe Magliocca, a Ward 2 hopeful who’s been running since the last campaign ended, wisecracked that he wishes the mayor would endorse him.

"It’s not right. I don’t think he should be endorsing anybody," he said. "He should focus on doing his own thing."

Ward 1 candidate Ward Sutherland, who has received Dale Hodges’ endorsement, suggested the mayor wanted to wield political leverage over current aldermen.

"Nice to have yes-men and control council," he said. "There’s a difference with Hodges endorsing me — he’s leaving."

Nenshi said council members haven’t been yes-men to him this term, and he’d welcome more debate and unpredictable vote outcomes in the next four years.

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Nenshi’s endorsements for council colleagues raise hackles of competitors